I attended the game with friends, so I can't say I watched as closely as I normally do. I was a bit surprised to learn that Cal was so mad at the team. I did notice that the defense was nothing to write home about and that Adrian Banks was lighting the Tigers up, but all of that was easily forgotten watching Willie Kemp have the best game of his 40 game career. Add in D-Mack's very solid game and I was happy.
Both guys shot the 3 very well and the one thing that has concerned me this year (through the first 4 games) was their ability to hit the long range jumper consistently enough to loosen up those zone defenses. Well, the Tigers did just that in this game.
Interestingly, I read some national writer actually say that Antonio Anderson and Andre Allen should never shoot the bal again for Memphis. Basically, I agree. There are plenty of guys on this team to provide the offense. Anderson and Allen could concentrate on other phases of the game just like Joey Dorsey is doing in rebounding and blocking shots.
How about Andre Allen's nine assists!
So has Cal over reacted in "cancelling" Thanksgiving for the team. I don't know. I even thought Cal probably never planned on letting these guys leave for Thanksgiving. I certainly wouldn't put it past any college coach to scheme that way. Cal is a master motivator and "cancelling" Thanksgiving, while pissing off your players, is highly effective.
4 comments:
The reason Cal was so ticked was that it took Kemp and Mack getting uncharacteristically hot from 3-pt range for the Tigers to beat this chump team. If those two have an average (or god forbid, bad) game, Memphis would have struggled mightily. And Cal knows that there will be nights, against better competition than AS, that the outside shooting will run cold. Kudos to Cal for not letting up on these guys; I pity Austin-Peay Tuesday night.
Interestingly, I read some national writer actually say that Antonio Anderson and Andre Allen should never shoot the bal again for Memphis.
I've been saying for a year now that I've got no problem with either of those guys taking a three if it's very late in the shot clock (say under 10 seconds) and the defense is sagging toward the middle leaving them wide open. It's better to put the ball up on the rim at that point and just fight for the rebound on the three times out of four that they miss than to try and struggle to find someone else and risk a turnover.
But the shots early in the clock absolutely kill me. At that point, all of their points need to be coming off of layups and (for Anderson) dunks and those mostly need to come off the break. What's absolutely mind boggling is that, with the way that defenses play us, our offense sometimes seems designed to get Anderson a three-point shot over on the wing.
Hey Coach,
I had no way to see this game as I'm a few hundred miles away, but I agree a lot. Seeing Mack and Kemp have a good game is refreshing. It adds our depth back. It opens up our outside game finally. If they can keep the shooting up we will have a greater offensive presence for sure.
Seeing our non shooting players contribute in assists etc. was great. Having our "top" player have an off shooting night and still see other players take care and fill the spots makes me a little more confident.
If we can get Anderson and Allen back into their game, we can finally have the deep bencg we should have.
Bas-o-matic,
Believe me, it wouldn't bother me at all if Anderson and Allen only shot the ball as you prescribed. Unless, the defense is daring them to shoot, basically only playing the other four guys - DON'T SHOOT. Pass the ball, play great defense, rebound - do all of the other things in the game that are also critical for winning. Not everyone has to be the guy scoring the rock.
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